The invention is directed to the automated monitoring and control of a wide variety of forms of contamination in a production area. As individuals can be a primary source of contamination, the invention is also directed to the automated monitoring and control of contamination of the production area by an individuals working in the production area.
While contamination of a production area can occur by a leaking pipe, a machine that breaks and sends a fragment into the production area and possibly into a product or other production machine, smoke or other atmospheric particulates entering the atmosphere of the production area from outside the production area, it is contamination by actions of workers in a production area are the most likely source of a variety of contaminants being released into a production area. Contamination of a production area can occur if an individual in a production area spills a material, breaks an object, touches an object, or simply coughs or sneezes in the production area. Other contaminating activities include sweating, excreting, bleeding, belching, crying, or vomiting in the production area.
Contamination of a production area, particularly contamination of product being produced in a production area, occurs in a wide variety of industries, and has a detrimental impact in production areas in which hygiene is needed to prevent contamination by biological and other contaminants. Such industries include the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and other health-services and health-product related industries, in which microbial and other contamination can have adverse consequences on the consumer of the services and/or products. The presence of bacteria, phlegm, saliva, sweat, skin oils, airborne microbes, and other contaminants from workers can result in product defects and spread of disease during one or more phases of a manufacturing process or during one or more phases of a process of rendering services.
Other industries require contamination-free, high purity production environments because contamination can negatively impact the function and/or aesthetics of the resulting product. One such industry is the manufacture of semiconductor devices, microelectronics, microchips, and integrated circuits. Another industry in which contamination negatively impacts product quality is the coating (e.g., painting) of various products, including automotive, furniture, construction, and other products, in which contaminants adversely affect the appearance, feel, or durability of the coating applied to the product.
Although there are numerous vendors supplying the market with contamination control equipment (hereinafter, “CCE”) intended to curb the effects of germ-releasing activities (e.g., face masks, gloves, hair nets, etc), and although employers require employees to wear CCE, the cost of contamination in the workplace remains high. Manual monitoring of employees, vendors, and visitors through close circuit camera or direct supervision is both expensive and subjective. The overall reporting of violations can be inaccurate and unverifiable.
There is a need for a system that accurately monitors individuals and equipment in the production area, to detect events that could contaminate or otherwise adversely affect product purity, functionality, appearance, safety, etc., to ensure that individuals in a production area wear required articles of CCE and to ensure that they do not interact with the production process in a manner that can spread disease, germs, and other contaminants, and/or to ensure that individuals do not contaminate a production area in a manner that negatively impacts product functionality and/or product appearance. There is a further need for contamination-control protocol in order to avoid damage to products and/or injury to the ultimate consumer of the product. There is also a need to warn and/or restrict individuals involved in high risk germ-releasing and germ-spreading activities and to mark food or other products as contaminated if the product is intended to be consumed free of contamination.
Similarly, there is a need for a system that accurately monitors and controls individuals as they work in a service environment, such as a hospital, school, restaurant, theater, retail store, etc., to ensure that service provider individuals in such a service area (i.e., a form of production area) do not interact with other individuals in a manner that can spread disease, germs, etc. It is further a need that the required contamination-control protocol is followed to avoid spreading of disease, germs, etc to other individuals in the service area.